The television stage director turned around, checking to make sure that everything was in order. He pointed to his assistant and motioned for her to move two steps to her left. Then he turned towards the President of the United States sitting behind his desk. The director held up the five fingers on his right hand and said, “Five, four, three, two, one, lowering one finger at a time.” Then he pointed to the President with his right index finger, indicating the cameras were rolling.
The President looked directly into the lens of the main camera on the floor of the Oval Office. He offered a slight smile.
It was snowing outside. It was December, 2022 and the President was facing the last few weeks of his term in office. He had served two terms and his tenure as President was nearing the legal limit. Two terms and out.
Two months ago the President had decided that he would make a speech to the nation that would be strikingly different than any he had made in his previous eight years in office. He wanted this speech to impact the nation and set it moving in a new direction. He wanted this speech to be the meaningful final act of his presidency.
The President had told his wife and his speech writer about the subjects he would cover. He asked them not to reveal the topic. They agreed and kept his secret for the two months.
The networks and the cable news channels had cleared their programming schedules for the President’s final address to the nation.
“My fellow Americans. Tonight I would like to spend some time with you talking about the future of our great nation. As your President for the past eight years I have tried to accomplish certain objectives that I believed would bring peace and prosperity to our country. We have ended the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our economy has improved a great deal. Our housing industry is healthy once more as is our banking system. We have fortified our Social Security system so that payments to our retired citizens are assured for decades to come. We have stemmed the tide of illegal immigration and made it possible for those individuals who wish to work and live in the United States to become legal citizens in the same manner that those who have come to this country before them. We have ordered our federal governmental bureaus to closely follow our immigration laws without exception.
Our nation is once again healthy and prosperous. Unemployment is now at the lowest point it has been in thirty years.
And so, I come to you, during my last days in office to speak about something that Presidents of the United States don’t usually explore. I would like to speak with you, my fellow Americans, about – our children.
For three decades millions of our children have been deprived of the best that this country can offer. They are denied, for one reason or another, a good elementary education. They are, likewise, denied a college experience. There are multiple reasons for the fact that we are denying a full education to many of our children.
The primary reason is because many of our parents have not fully contributed to the lives of their children. In many cases the reason are economic. With both parents required to work, to survive, the children are left to their own devices and to those of their peers. Our children need their parents to take a more active roll in their lives.
This nation’s problems with drugs, street crime, gangs and unemployment of our younger citizens have grown. We need to have our parents take a more active and involved role in the growing up of their children. In order to facilitate this I am asking Congress to pass legislation that would give increased tax relief to parents of younger children so that one of the parents will be home to take a more involved role in their up bringing. The goal of this legislation is to provide a more stable environment for this nation’s children.
I am also asking congress to pass legislation that will educate parents and children on the dangers of street gangs, guns and drugs and the benefits of a full college education. Every family will have access to a list of tools that will enable their children to grow up in a non-threatening neighborhood in addition to grants in aid that will financially assist our youth to attend and finish both high school and college.
I am also asking for legislation that will reward our country’s best teachers for their excellence. I want our children’s finest teachers to be rewarded for providing quality education for the children who will manage this country in a few years.
The goal of this twelve billion dollar program is to give every child in our country the opportunity to grow up with their parents in a safe neighborhood atmosphere and an opportunity to graduate from high school and college.
This nation can no longer afford to have our children grow up and walk unsafe streets in dangerous cities. We cannot permit our children to become part of street gangs, involved with the dangerous drug trade. We cannot have our children drop out of high school, only to become potential future wards of the state.
We ask each American, especially parents, to dedicate themselves to the promise that our children will grow up safely and given the chance to become good citizens with the greatest opportunity to find success in this great country.
This nation and its citizens must provide for the safety and opportunity for every child of this great land. There is nothing more important than this.
I thank you. I wish you good evening. God bless America.”
The television stage director waited two seconds and then drew his index finger across his throat, indicating the camera was off.
The President rose from his chair and walked to his wife. He put his arms around her, pulling her close.
He whispered in her ear, “I hope that all Americans realize the importance of giving our children a fair shake.”
His wife kissed him on his cheek and hugged him tightly.